Culpepper Question
 

Ok, I never liked Culpepper as a QB in his good years. But after a bad year and an injury, why is Minnesota in such a hurry to dump him? They can't possibly expect to get good value for him. Are they rebuilding? Do they really think Brad Johnson is that good? Is this a cap thing?

I think this gives the owner the best opportunity to change the culture of that team. He wants to change the public image of the Vikings which was not that great even before the "Love Boat" incident. If he trades Culpepper, he say that he is not tolerating any sort of off the field crap.

I think miami fan has the right of it. Also, I think Culpepper isn't too happy. I don't think it's a bad move. Brad Johnson can hold down the fort for another year and they also have money to bring someone else in liek Brees, McNown, or someone like that.

I can't understand this math.

Brandon Lloyd= 3rd and 4th rnd picks

Dante Culpepper= 3rd round pick

I know the Redskins will overpay for anyone that compliments Danny's jet, but WTF? In what bizarro world is Culpepper worth less than Brandon Lloyd?

I hadn't heard they were interested in adding another qb. That would make the sequence more sensible. Still, it seems like it's usually a bad move when a team (in any sport) suddenly decides they need to dump their biggest star.

I love Daunte. Brokeback style.

1.The Vikings have made it pretty clear that they don't want Culpepper on that team next year.

2.He is coming off of a major knee injury.

3. He has now sent four emails to the media ripping his current team.

4. He is on trial.

5. He is owed $6 million bonus next week I believe

6. He looked absolutely awful before he injured his knee.

Umm.... do you really mean Cade McNown?? :eek:

Didn't he injure his knee in the pre-season? And his 2004 stats were something like 4,500+ yards, almost a 40-10 TD-INT ratio and a 110 QB Rating? Color me crazy, but I'd kill for a guy half that good on my team.

Also, I don't think the Redskins gave that up in trade value, they signed Lloyd as a RFA, and had no choice but to give that up if they wanted him.

Well, I could be wrong and I'll eat my words if I am but..

Dante looked like a deer caught in headlights from the word go last year. Take your pick between Jim Everett when he lost his nerve in the pocket with the Rams or any game that Ryan Leaf (sp) was a part of. Only Culpepper looked worse than those two combined.

I just don't know what a knee could possibly have to do with how badly he played. How does a knee stop you from reading a defense? It just seemed like 9 out of 10 balls he threw were not missthrown but simply thrown to the wrong place. IE he wasn't able to read the defense and make the right choices. The look on his face that I saw in all his games was confusion , he simply didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

Seems to me if was just the knee the throws would still be heading in the right direction and followed by commentary something like " he tried to get it to so and so but with the knee injury his mechanics are off and he couldn't get enough on it to get it there." You would see a disappointed look on his face knowing that he made the right read but because of injuries limiting him he couldn't make the play, not the wide eyed deer look that at least IMHO we saw all last year.

I watched Culpepper a fair bit last year (as I'm an NFC North viewer). I think the combination of his knee injury and the loss of Matt Birk is what did it for Culpepper. Basically from the word go he was under pressure as the O-Line absolutely stunk it up. That, combined with him not being able to rely on his mobility and strength as he had in the past, just turned him into a different player. Many games he was too busy just trying to limp away from DEs that he couldn't put together any semblance of decent quarterbacking.

If he rehabs the knee successfully and goes somewhere that has a halfway-decent O-Line, I full expect him to rebound and pay dividends.

Wow, things must have been even worse for that team behind that dreadful offensive line after Culpepper got injured. Imagine that. I wonder just how awful things got then... after losing such a wonderful quarterback and having to settle for some retread journeyman. They must have lost every game by 30 points.

I was about to ask the same thing.

I think losing Moss had an effect on his play, too. That said, I don't think Culpepper is washed up.

Daunte looked simply awful last season for whatever reason. Maybe because he lost confidence that his line could protect him. But a top quarterback simply should not have that many bad games in a row.

Then he was part of the boat scandal and, as a quarterback and recently married, he's easily the most visible of those involved.

Then, a quarterback known for his ability to run, shreds his knee. He may be ready for the start of next season, but that's pretty optomistic.

Then after all of this, he comes to Minnesota and asks repeatedly for a raise when he is already scheduled to be paid 8 million for this season.

You also have a new offense being implemented in Minnesota, so you would expect the starting quarterback to be here working with the coaches, but Daunte refuses to spend any time here.

Basically it comes down to a question of how well he can learn a new system and recover from an injury that will hamper one of his biggest assets, whether he is worth the money scheduled to be paid him and whether he can be effective when he is unhappy with his contract. That's just too many questions for a new regime.

Personally, I'd just assume see them keep Culpepper, let him get healthy and show he can play, then see what you can get for him next year. But given the situation, I don't know if that is a feasible approach.

Well, I don't think Culpepper is all that and a bag of chips, but from the perspective of a 49er fan, Culpepper is almost surely an improvement over what we have. The only problem is that we need Alex Smith to develop, so getting an older, veteran QB is probably out of the question.

I'd rather have the 49ers see what Alex Smith can do. If he's a bust, then there will be other opportunities to draft a young franchise QB.

I agree. It's frustrating to see this draft class after last year's draft class, though.

Like I said, I think losing Birk was the other big thing (besides the knee), for Culpepper. Johnson, on the other hand, hadn't already developed a working relationship with Birk. He took what he was given.

I guess it's a question of being used to something and then having it taken away (mobility, Birk), as opposed to just taking the situation as it is.

I think the biggest issue with Culpepper last year was the lack of a bonafide offensive coordinator. Scott Linehan from the previous year was replaced with Steve Looney. Looney is a good guy, decent line coach, but was a horrible offensive coordinator. Not only that, but he was doing both the offensive line job and the offensive coordinator job. He seemed totally overwhelmed with his responsibilities and out to sea as a coordinator.

Culpepper's pre-season knee injury may have slowed him a bit and the loss of Randy Moss likely resulted in some very different defensive looks for him. But more than that, Culpepper has never really impressed me as the brightest bulb on the tree, and I think he needs a solid offensive mind backing him up to keep him effective. This past season, without a good offensive coordinator and seeing unfamiliar defenses, Culpepper had no clue what to do. The "deer in the headlights" image is perfect if you watched him play a lot this past season.

I thought that Johnson looked absolutely horrific last season when I saw him play. Granted it was vs the Super Bowl Champions.

I think Johnson looked good only because of how awful Culpepper looked. The offense was mediocre at best under Johnson. The best thing he did was not throw interceptions (his rate was 1/4 that of Culpepper last year).

True.

I'm betting he meant Josh McNown, former QB for the Cards and has some upside to him.

Maybe I'm thinking of someone else, but isn't Culpepper bad for putting the ball on the ground as well? To me a QB fumble is worse than an interception because at least with an INT you're moving the ball downfield a bit before the turnover.

That's him.

Ya think? :)

It's even more likely that he meant Josh McCown.

Just sayin'...

And the mystery continues. . .

I thought he meant Phil Plantier.

Only I know the answer of what I meant and all will be revealed in time. In time. . .